


Behold, New Beginnings

by CeaselessCow2011



Series: The Magnus Archives: Barely Canon [6]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Elias Bouchard Being a Bastard, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mentions Peter Lukas - Freeform, Neurodivergent Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Swearing? In The Archives? More likely than you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28035387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeaselessCow2011/pseuds/CeaselessCow2011
Summary: Elias gives Jon and Martin a surprise, then gives the Magnus Institute an even bigger surprise.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James/Tim Stoker
Series: The Magnus Archives: Barely Canon [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986040
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	Behold, New Beginnings

He just wanted to have a nice day. He really did. Jon had taken the day off, per Martin’s insistent suggestions, and Martin had gone to work. Of course, Martin just couldn’t catch a break, could he, because what was the first thing he saw when he stepped into the institute? Elias. Fucking. Bouchard. _Great. Just great._

“Martin…! No Jon with you today?” Elias had a smile of mischief on his face. Martin already wanted to punch this man. He cleared his throat. “No, he’s taken the day off.” 

“Well, isn’t that a predicament… I had things to discuss with you two…”

“You can discuss it with me. _I_ will talk to Jon about it when I get home.” Martin gave Elias a piercing glare. He was very suspicious.

Elias smirked. _The little bastard._ “I suppose that can do. Come.” Elias led Martin to his office and let him in.

“You go first.” Martin insisted. 

Elias made a little hmph sound as he went into the office. He sat behind his desk and asked Martin to sit. Martin kept the door open. There was no way in hell he was letting that door close. Elias noticed this but didn’t mention it. Martin sat at a chair. 

“So, Martin, how have you been?”

“Enough with the small talk! Just tell me what you want!” Martin snapped a little bit. He was already done with Elias and his bullshit. He wanted to go home. To Jon. To the comfort and safety Jon provided. But no. He had to deal with Elias.

“I don’t want much, Martin,” Elias started, still having that shit-eating smile on his bastardly face, “I just want to know something.”

Martin rolled his eyes. “Of course you want to know something. That’s your whole shtick, is it not?”

Elias had to chuckle at that a little bit. “I suppose so. But no, this isn’t about Knowing things. This is about you and Jon-”

“What about me and Jon?!” He about slammed his hands on the desk in anger.

Of course Elias was calm. Of. Course. Elias just smiled at Martin’s reaction. “I’m getting to that, you know. Patience is a virtue, is it not?”

 _Sounds like something Mum would say…_ A voice popped into Martin’s head. This made Martin’s face more angered. “Would you just get to the point and stop beating the dead horse?” Martin said through grit teeth.

“Right. Well, you know the Lukas family I presume?”

Martin nodded. “Yes? Why?”

“Well, I wanted to give you the keys to Peter Lukas and I’s house.”

“House? You’re giving Jon and I a house?”

“Precisely! I knew this was the right choice.”

“And wait- you and Peter Lukas… Live together?”

Elias blinked. “Yes. Weren’t you at the Annual Divorce Party a couple of weeks ago?”

“The WHAT-” Martin’s voice squeaked. “Divorce Party?! How many years have you been married?”

“Oh, goodness…” Elias sighed. “Six years now? Goodness, we’ve gotten divorced and married so many times…” He said, his tone indicating that he was deeply in love with this man. 

“Okay, then.” Martin said slowly.

Elias pulled out two sets of keys from his pullout drawer and slid them across the desk to Martin. “Here you are.” He wrote the address on a piece of paper and set it on top of the keys. 

“So, what about you and Peter Lukas? Where are you going?”

“We’re… Well, you’ll see.” Elias had a smug grin on his face, as per usual.

Martin rolled his eyes. “Right.”

“Well, go off then. Peter and I have already moved out completely, and you and Jon get the day off.” Elias offered.

Martin was fine with this idea. Actually, he was _much more than fine_ with this idea. He sighed, grabbed the keys and the paper, and stood. “Okay. I’ll see you later, then.”

Elias waved him out.

Martin walked back to the flat. All the while, thoughts rushed through his head. _Why did Elias choose him and Jon? What if this house is something horrible? What if… What if they get marked by something?_

He got into the flat. Jon was in the middle of cooking. “Martin!” He smiled. “You’re home very early.” He said while setting up two sandwiches. “I was just about to send you a sandwich.”

Martin had to smile at this. Jon was so nice. He went and sat at the dining room table. “Well, some stuff happened today.”

“Oh?” Jon glanced at Martin before putting the second sandwich on a separate plate. He served both of them. He gave both of them glasses of water. “Would you like to talk about it?” Jon took a bite of his sandwich. 

Martin nodded and ate with Jon. Finishing his bite, he started. “Well. Do you know about Elias and Peter?”

“Did they get divorced for a second time this year?” Jon was on the edge of his seat already.

“What’s with everyone and the divorce thing?!” Martin squeaked again. 

Jon laughed at this. “Anyway… Go on?”

Martin cleared his throat. “Right.” Martin set his sandwich down and pulled the keys and the slip of paper out of his pocket. “Well, Elias pulled me to his office to give me the keys and address to his house. Apparently, Peter and Elias are moving out and he wanted us to have it.”

Jon raised an eyebrow. “That’s… Oddly suspicious of him.”

Martin’s arms flew up overdramatically. “I know!”

“So, what shall we do, then? Should we just check it out?”

“I, I guess.” Martin shrugged.

“Right, then.” Jon stood up, grabbed the dishes, and cleaned them as Martin grabbed his phone. He pulled up his maps app and punched in the address. “Oh, wow, it’s right near the Institute.”

“Explains why he’s always there before anyone else.”

Martin nodded and put his phone in his pocket. He put the keys and the slip of paper in his pocket and put his shoes on. Jon followed shortly, putting his shoes on. The two left the flat and made their way out into the streets. They held each other's hands. They were both silent as they walked, though both of them had a multitude of questions. Jon sighed and broke the silence.

“Why us?” He asked.

Martin shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I wonder what the house is like.”

“I wonder if Elias’ jokes were right…”

“What jokes?”

“Well…” Jon sighed as he looked around. “Whenever things happen, like the Prentiss attack… You know how he says things like ‘You might as well be marked by the Corruption’? He talks about being ‘marked’ by things. I-I’ve actually made a list of all the words he’s said, and I’ve come up with odd conclusions that don’t quite make any sense, and it’s a very confusing string of theories but I’ve been working tirelessly on it for quite a few weeks and-”

Martin interrupted. “Right, well, I’d love to hear all about it, and I love you dearly, but we’re here. Can we pick this up later?”

Jon looked surprised. “Oh!” He looked at the house, then to Martin. “Right. Um, right, yes, that’d be nice.” He smiled.

The house was a nice, medium size. It wasn’t terribly far from the institute, and it was actually quite nice. The grass of the lawn was a very healthy green, and there were small stones leading up to the stairs. The house itself was a forest green with light blue accents. The door was a burgundy that didn’t seem to fit the color scheme, but it wasn’t horrible. There was a drive next to the house that led to the garage, which was also burgundy, and the garage door was a pale blue. Jon opened the door. It swung open. 

The floors were made of wood, and there were a few rugs scattered about. As they entered, to their left, was a reasonably spacious kitchen and dining area. On their right was just a plain white wall. They decided to look at the kitchen first. 

There was a microwave, sink, dishwasher, oven, stove, and on the long counter was a rice cooker, a crockpot, a toaster, a coffee maker, and a coffee bean grinder. Jon scoffed. “Of course they drink coffee. Good thing we have our own kettle.” He sounded like the presence of the coffee maker and coffee bean grinder personally offended him on an intensely deep level. Martin raised a brow and smirked but said nothing. In the corner was a refrigerator with a freezer at the bottom. Beneath the counters sat cabinets and drawers. The drawers were all empty. The cabinets held various pots and pans. All this cookware, but no plates, no bowls, and no silverware. Jon found this to be odd, but Martin was just admiring everything with an err of caution, of course. The dining area was empty, aside from a singular rug in the centre of the room attached to the kitchen. They would definitely need to bring their own things when moving in. Once the couple had thoroughly looked through the kitchen/dining area, They went back to the front door. 

Straight ahead was a living area. The living space was carpeted and had a big dark blue couch in the centre, along with a long coffee table. There were dimly-lit lamps in the corners, and a big tv in the middle of it all, standing on top of a long entertainment stand that was lined with various DVDs, and there were even a couple of VHS tapes with labels on them such as “Elias Birthday 2000” and “Peter and Elias First Divorce”. Jon and Martin got a chuckle out of that last one. On the side of the living area was a glass sliding door that led out to the backyard. 

The backyard was a decent size. There were two parts of the fence, one small part for a vegetable garden and a very big portion with what looked to be like a closed shed or barn of some sort. Jon and Martin went to the plants first, all of which were very healthy. They then went to the shed. Jon nervously opened the door, not knowing what to expect. Upon opening the door, two small, fluffy, brown and white Hereford cows came up to him. He gasped. “Martin!” He exclaimed. He bounced a little, shaking his hands. “Martin! Cows! They have cows here! Cows!!!” He was very excited.

“There sure are!” Martin chuckled out. Seeing Jon this happy and excited was a rare sight to see, but a nice one nonetheless. 

“I wonder what their names are!” Jon bounced more.

Martin looked around and saw two pens. He went toward the pens and saw the names ‘Chip’ and ‘Biscuit’. “Their names are Chip and Biscuit.” He called out to Jon as he walked over.

Jon giggled and happily stimmed, shaking his hands quickly and excitedly. “Chip and Biscuit! So cute!!” He was starting to slip into a littlespace so hard. Martin took notice of this and closed the door. “Let’s hang out with them later and look at the rest of the house, shall we, Mr. Archivist?” He asked, holding Jon’s hand. Jon looked at him. “R-Right. Right. The house.” He looked back and the two made their way back inside.

There was a hallway about three meters from the front door, and a second one two meters away from that one. Jon and Martin went into the hall closest to the door. It was a decently wide hallway lined with doors. Jon started freaking out about this a little bit. Each door was a different color. Martin noticed how shaky Jon was becoming. He turned to Jon, a soft smile on his face. “It’s okay. Here, let’s turn this light on…” He flipped a switch, and three lights turned on, illuminating the hall. Jon looked around. “Can you look in the rooms for me?” 

“Of course.” Martin nodded. “Why don’t you sit on the couch while I do so. I’ll be back in just a bit.” 

Jon nodded and went to the couch.

Martin sighed softly as he turned back to the hall. He opened the first door, which was a plain white. It looked simple enough. It was obviously a bathroom, and a very generic one at that. There was nothing special about it at all.

Martin felt confident. This wasn’t so bad. He could do this. The next door was a bright yellow. It almost hurt to look at. He opened the door to see a staircase that looked like it was going down. The steps were bright, flashy, swirling colours while everything surrounding them was pitch black. He didn’t dare go down those steps. He shut the door. Maybe this _was_ a little sketchy after all. Perhaps Jon was right to be so paranoid. 

He went to the next door. It was a dark red. He sighed and opened the door, revealing what looked to be animal carcasses all over the room. He plugged his nose, nearly gagging, and closed the door. He looked to what should've been the end of the hall. it looked small and pitch black, like it was far away. "There's no way I'm doing this." He turned back and went back to Jon, who was looking outside. "Hi." He said, waving. 

Jon looked to him immediately. "How was it?"

"Er, well, it could've been better! But it wasn't… Awful, I suppose? They were just odd. Want to check out the other hall? Hopefully it will be nicer."

Jon nodded and took Martin's hand. The two of them went to the other hall, which seemed normal enough. They opened the first room, which was to their right: A bathroom. Pale greens and pale blues coloured the walls of it, but other than that, it was a plain bathroom. A good start, thought Jon, but a bit of a nervous start for Martin. He really didn’t want this to go down the same way the other hall went. But he wouldn’t let his nervousness show, and thus, went to the next room.

To their left after the bathroom was a reasonably sized office/study room. Jon went in first and examined it. The walls were a dull green and were lined with various paintings. In the middle of the room was a large wooden desk with a chair. Jon felt a sort of peace when in the room, but Martin felt differently. He felt uncomfortable. Like something was amiss. He looked up to see the paintings staring at him. The stares weren’t intense. The stares weren’t malicious by any means; if anything, they were gentle. Jon exited the room and looked to Martin. “Shall we?”

Martin shook his head a little. “Yeah, let’s go, then.” The two went to the next room. It looked like a guest room. Nothing special here. Just a bed, a nightstand, and a desk and chair. Although, Martin pointed out, there was a small ship in a bottle in the corner of the desk, which he found odd.

Finally, at the end of the hall, was the Master Bedroom. It was the biggest room in the house. There were plain white walls and a big bed with two nightstands on either side. There were dressers and two big bookshelves, and a window that looked out into the backyard. 

“So… What’s next?” Jon piped up, looking to Martin, thinking he might know what to do. But Martin just shrugged. “Not a clue! Um…” The two thought in idle silence for what seemed to be at least ten minutes. 

“Ah, how about I call Georgie, Sasha and Tim and they can help us pack and move?” Jon suggested.

Martin smiled. “Wonderful idea!”

And so, Jon called Georgie first, who picked up rather quickly.

“Hey Loverboy, shouldn’t you be working right now?”

“Yes, yes, it’s just- Elias not only gave Martin and I a day off, but he gave us a house and-”

“He gave you a house?!”

“Yes, he gave us a house, but that’s not the point- Look- Would you be willing to help us move?”

“Uh, yeah, course. Text me the address and I’ll be over asap.”

“Okay. Thank you, Georgie.”

“Yeah yeah, Loverboy, don’t mention it.” She hung up.

Martin saddled up. “Loverboy, eh?”

Jon jumped slightly. “Martin!” He cleared his throat. “We all have things people like to call us. Isn’t that right, ‘Marty’?”

The name made Martin cringe. “You have a point! But, why Loverboy of all things?”

“Well, for starters, she used to only call me that when I talked about you. Secondly, she knows how badly I used to be into the band Queen.”

Martin snorted. “Queen? Really? Y’know, I used to have a crush on Freddie Mercury.”

“That so?” Jon said, smiling as he texted the address to Georgie.

Something in Jon’s smile made Martin’s heart skip a beat. 

“I’ll go call Tim, you can handle Sasha I presume?” Jon asked, looking up at Martin, who was staring at Jon with a dreamy haze in his eyes.

“Martin.” Jon snapped his fingers once.

Martin snapped out of it. “Um, yeah-? Yes?”

Jon smiled. “Can you call Sasha while I try to get a hold of Tim?”

“Yes, Yes of course. I’ll be back.” Martin left the room.

Jon pulled up the contact named ‘Timothy Stoker’ on his phone and called the number. It rang for some time before going to voicemail. When the phone beeped, Jon clearly and professionally said, “Tim, please call me when you can. Preferably within the next few hours. Jon.” and hung up. He also texted Tim:

`Tim, when you see this message, please reply ASAP. Thank you. Jon.`

Meanwhile, Martin had gone into the living area and called Sasha, who picked up after a minute.

“Hey Martin! How are you doing?” 

“I’m doing well, mostly. Elias-”

“Ew- Sorry, carry on?”

“Right. Well, Elias sort of… Gave Jon and I a house today.”

“A house?” Sasha seemed bewildered.

“Yeah, I was pretty shocked too. But, um, I was wondering if you’d like to help us pack?”

“Yes, of course! Where’s the house at?”

Martin gave her the address.

“Perfect, I should be there within the hour. Hugs and kisses!”

“Great, we shall see you then! Hugs and kisses.” Martin hung up and went to Jon. “Hello.”

Jon looked to him. “Hello. Did you get through to Sasha?”

“Yes, she said she’ll be here within the hour. Any luck with Tim?”

Jon sighed. “No. Unfortunately.”

“Ah, well, I think we can make it work, the four of us.” 

“Hope so.”

The two waited around in the living area for a while, waiting on Georgie and Sasha, when a knock came at the door. Jon went and opened it. Georgie was at the door, and she smiled. “Well if it isn’t my favourite archivist!” She hugged Jon tight, squeezing the life out of him. “H-Hello, Georgie…” He said, a bit out of breath.

Martin came over and smiled. “Hello!”

Georgie released Jon and shook Martin’s hand. “So you must be Martin! Mr. Loverboy over here talks about you a great deal. It’s nice to meet you!” For once, Jon didn’t refute this. He actually sort of liked this.

Martin chuckled. “Nice to meet you too!”

Not thirty seconds later, Sasha arrived. “Hey guys!” She looked to Georgie. “Who’s this?”

“This is Georgie. Georgie, this is my coworker Sasha.” Jon said, introducing the two.

“Pleasure’s mine!” Georgie said, nodding a bit to Sasha.

Martin cleared his throat. “Shall we go pack?”

“Brought my car, should be able to fit everything nicely. If not, we can make two trips.” Georgie stated.

“Oh, I brought my car too, we can just bring both of them,” Sasha said, smiling.

“Kay.” Georgie nodded. She turned to the boys. “Who wants to ride with who?”

“I can ride with you, Georgie,” Martin said, smiling bashfully. “If you wouldn’t mind, that is.”

Jon nodded. “I’ll go with Sasha.”

“Perfect, let’s go, then.” Georgie grinned. The four of them went to the cars, Martin and Georgie going into the dark blue minivan and Sasha and Jon going into the yellow sedan. 

\----------

Jon and Sasha buckled themselves in. Sasha started the car and drove off. After a few moments, Sasha finally spoke. “How’s your day been, bud? How was the house?” Purely by instinct, Sasha had started calling Jon ‘Bud’ a lot lately. Jon didn’t think she had noticed, but he didn’t mind, so he never mentioned it to her. He actually quite liked it when she called him that. Sasha, of course, was one of the few lucky people Jon actually trusted. He trusted Martin most of all, and trusted Georgie and Sasha, and he tried hard with Tim most of the time, but Tim had a habit of saying things Jon didn’t understand, then when Jon would ask him what he meant, Tim would shrug and say ‘Oh, you know.’ When it was pretty obvious and clear that Jon, in fact, had no clue what Tim could have possibly meant.

“My day has been great! The house is nice, and it’s spacious, and in the back, there are two cows!” He started bouncing again. “Two cows, Sasha, can you believe it?!”

Sasha chuckled at this. “Two of them? What are their names?”

“Chip and Biscuit! I’ll have to show you and Georgie later!”

“Alright! How’s everything else? Also, is the whole house situation why you and Martin weren’t at work today? I was the only one out of me, Tim, You, and Martin to show today. Kind of odd.”

“Oh! Yeah! Well, I wasn’t to come in today regardless, Martin’s orders actually. He’s such a stickler for having days to myself and sometimes he just won’t take no for an answer. It’s not a terribly bad thing, by any means. It’s just still very new to me to be able to just… Relax, I guess, and to focus on myself for once. But yes, Martin came by and told me how Elias gave him keys and the address and so we went to the house. I can’t speak for Tim, though. I tried calling him and texting him earlier, but he hasn’t responded.”

“Typical Tim. But anyway, I’m glad you’re getting some breaks here and there, you deserve it.” Sasha smiled.

“Thank you.”

Sasha parked near the flat and got out with Jon.

\----------

Martin and Georgie buckled in and started driving off to the flat. Martin had chosen to ride with Georgie because he thought he might actually be able to be friends with her. And hey, a friend of Jons is a friend of Martins. He could do this. 

Georgie herself was happy about this as well. The moment she had started driving, she smiled widely and asked "Soo, Jon, huh? How'd you score that one?"

"Well, I mean, wasn't too tricky, I'd say. He actually confessed to me first, needless to say I was very surprised at this. I hadn't taken him as the sort of man to like someone like me, I guess? I don't know, it was just shocking to me. But I can't say I didn't enjoy it. I started trying to gain his affection by making him tea. It's what Mum used to do, before she got sick. Gain the affection of others by making them things. In this case, tea. When I first started making him tea, he was suspicious of my so called 'motives', and-"

Georgie laughed. "Jon told me that! We actually had an hour long conversation over the phone about how he was being too paranoid about it and he should just let you do nice things for him."

Martin chuckled. "Really? That's actually quite funny. But, yeah, anyway, I actually formed a crush on him the moment I saw him. Well, not just his looks, but the way he carried himself." He chuckled more, recalling the moment they met. "When I came into his office and asked him if he'd seen a dog, and asked 'Like, in general, or…?' It was just too cute. He was just too cute. It impeded my work at first and he'd lecture me every so often about how I need to start 'taking this job seriously' and to 'stop fooling around'. But of course, that's just him. That's the front he pulls with people who are new, and I knew it even then. I knew he was only being like that to act all professional and whatnot. So I of course had to pull the man out of it and try to at least get him to see me as a friend."

"God", Georgie started, "I can't tell you the amount of times that man has texted me either while he was at work, or going home, or even at ungodly hours of the night just to tell me things like 'Georgie, he's being nice again what do I do', 'Georgie Georgie you'll never guess who brought me tea again!', 'Georgie, Martin is treating me with respect and being nice to me how does one handle that?'. Oh and let's not forget my favourite one; This one time he called me frantically at two in the morning. I picked up, he had woken me up of course, so I asked what he wanted. He then said, in the most defeated voice I've _ever_ heard from him, 'I've fucked up, Georgie. I've made a fool of myself and I hate myself and I'm ready to throw myself straight into the sun.' and I just had to laugh at how utterly dramatic he was being. I asked him what happened for him to say such a dramatic statement and he got defensive a little bit and said 'I'm not being dramatic, Georgie! I've fallen in love with Martin, it's bad.' I asked why it's bad and _he went off_. And when I say he went off, I mean it. Saying things like ‘He’s so nice to me, he doesn’t find me annoying, in fact he’s one of the only people who doesn’t find me completely intolerable and he respects me and my boundaries, and besides, this is purely unprofessional! Also, I have no chance with him, so there’s that. Don’t even get me started on all the things he doesn’t know about me. How I act when I get close. My mental illnesses. I’m a mess, and I don’t want that ruining my relationship with him. I should just quit working at the Archives. I’m sure there are plenty of other jobs around.’ and I told him he should tell you how he feels. Because from the sounds of it, it seemed like you weren’t the type of person who was going to leave Jon’s side, no matter what he did, no matter what he said. And I told him this. We settled on a plan. He was to tell you how he felt within the week. And so the very next day he texted me saying he was going to carry out the plan. And he followed through. And now, here we are.” She said as she pulled into a parking spot nearby the flat. “Packing your things and Jon’s things so you two can live together in a nice, fancy house.” She smiled. “I have to say, I’m pretty happy for you two, you know.”

Martin smiled softly. “Thank you. That means a lot… I just can’t believe he’s liked me for so long and tried to keep it hidden. Did a bad job of it, though.” He chuckled.

The two laughed, got out of the car, and made their way to the flat. 

\----------

The four met up at the door to the old flat. When Jon saw Martin, he smiled and kissed his cheek. “Hello!” He said, looking happily into Martin’s eyes. Martin kissed him and held him close. “Hello, Dearest.” 

Georgie butted in. “C’mon, you two can be gay later, right now we’re packing.”

“Alright, alright, we’re off each other.” Jon said, getting off of Martin. Martin unlocked and opened the door to the flat, and the four walked in. Martin brought out empty moving boxes from a closet and started assembling them. Sasha and Georgie looked around the flat, and Jon started gathering belongings. Soon enough, they fell into a system. Martin would set up the boxes, set them off to the side for someone else to pick up, said person would fill up the box, and hand it back to Martin so he can tape it up. Doing it this way made the process so much easier. Once everything was in boxes, Sasha and Jon started loading up the sedan, while Georgie and Martin started moving the dining room table and putting it in the minivan. The four of them did their unspoken tasks. 

The flat was now empty. Sasha and Jon went into the sedan like before, and Martin and Georgie went into the minivan, and they all drove back to the house.

Once at the house, they all started bringing things in. All the boxes went into the guest room to be dealt with later, and the dining table and benches were moved into the dining area. The four made a good team. They were now finished. 

“Well, that was a lot of good work.” Jon noted, smiling.

Sasha nodded. “Sure was. I’m pretty tired now, and it’s getting late, I should be heading out now.”

“Same here, I should be heading off.” Georgie added.

Jon and Martin waved the two off as they left. It was just Jon and Martin now, just them. Alone. Jon held onto Martin close. “We should get some rest…” Martin said, holding Jon close and kissing his head.

Jon nodded, and the two went and opened the boxes until they found clothes. “Really should’ve labelled these.” Martin chuckled. Jon nodded in agreement. They both slipped into t-shirts, which were both Martin’s shirts. They went to the bedroom and went under the blankets. Jon snuggled into Martin, and Martin held Jon close. “Goodnight, my love.” Jon whispered, dozing off quickly.

“Goodnight, Sweetie, sleep well.” Martin kissed Jon’s head and closed his eyes.

\----------

The two had the best sleep they’d ever had. When Jon’s alarm went off, he and Martin groaned. Jon turned his alarm off and snuggled into Martin more. 

“Mmm, Jon…” Martin mumbled, half-asleep. “Need to get up for work…”

“Mmm...Don’ wanna…” Jon mumbled back.

Martin stretched and yawned and forced himself to sit up. Jon still clung to him like his life depended on it. He kissed his head. “I’ll go get you an outfit ready… Just need to stay for just a minute…” He held Jon’s hands and got off the bed and left the room. Jon whined quietly about this for a moment.

Martin came back moments later with clothes. The two changed. “Grab some tea on the way there?” Jon asked, stretching. Martin nodded, chuckling. “Of course.” He kissed Jon’s cheek. “Anything for you, sleepyhead.” Jon smiled and blushed softly at this. 

After they changed, they headed out to the cafe. It was quaint and quiet, and they each ordered some tea. After getting the tea, they finally made their way to the institute. Once inside, Tim and Sasha were standing there, frantically awaiting the two’s arrival.

“Boss’ dead!” Tim exclaimed as they went in.

Jon and Martin’s eyes widened. “What?!”

Sasha rolled her eyes and punched Tim playfully in the arm. “Come on, let’s not spook them too much… But, yeah, something’s happened to Elias. There’s nothing but a note on his desk, and-”

“And you didn’t bother to read it?” Jon asked.

“No, well, it- it has your name on it, Jon. We wouldn’t read something that’s for you, especially considering it’s from Elias…” Sasha replied.

Jon rushed to Elias’ office and grabbed the note. Sasha, Tim, and Martin followed quickly. Jon read the note aloud.

_“Dear Jonathan Sims, Ex-Head Archivist of The Magnus Institute, London,_

_It is with such a heavy heart I must write to you today. On this day forward, I will be away. Peter Lukas (my husband) and I are moving somewhere. I want you to be the new Head of The Magnus Institute, ad infinitum. It will most certainly be a position to look forward to. I hope you can see why I chose you as my successor. You have a special gift, Jon. Furthermore, You will need to pick an assistant, and since your previous position is now empty, you will need to find someone to fill it in with._

_Keep a watchful eye,_

_Elias Bouchard, previous Head of The Magnus Institute, London, Vigilo-Opperior-Audio, est. 1818”_

Tim, Sasha, and Martin all looked at each other in anxious silence as Jon stared at the paper. Thoughts rushed through his head. He didn’t know what this would mean for him. What this would mean for the institute. But he _had_ to do something. He set the note down on the desk and cleared his throat. “Well…” He looked to the three, who immediately looked back. Jon continued, seeing as he got everyone’s attention. “As the note said, I will need both a new assistant and a new Head Archivist. Now… Seeing as Elias was a sexist bastard, I think it’s only fair that I break the cycle. Sasha?”

Sasha perked up. “Yes?”

“I want you to be the new Head Archivist. Would that be a position you would still want? You _are_ still qualified, I would imagine.”

Sasha nodded and smiled. “Of course!”

Tim patted Sasha on the back and kissed her cheek. “Great job, Sash’!”

“Congrats!” Martin piped up, a bit quieter than Tim, but not too much.

“Martin. Tim.” Jon said, still in his professional tone.

“Yeah, boss?” Tim turned his attention to Jon.

“One of you needs to be my assistant. I would like you three to pick, as I quite honestly don’t mind who it is. Just don’t fight too much about it.” He couldn’t help but smile slightly.

Tim and Martin turned to Sasha. The three talked to each other while Jon actively started throwing out useless eye knick-knacks that Elias had collecting dust on the shelves. His mind was still racing as it did when he read the note. He picked up the note and read it and reread it. He kept feeling as though he _needed_ to read it over. 

As the three were talking, Martin glanced back at Jon. He grew worried. He went over to Jon and took the paper gently out of his hands. “Are you alright?” He whispered as Tim and Sasha talked.

Jon looked to Martin with a glazed-over look. “I… Don’t know.”

Martin nodded. “That’s understandable. Why don’t you have a sit-down? I’m going to end the discussion and we can all go have some tea together. How’s that sound?”

“Yeah…” Jon nodded and sat down in one of the chair’s that Elias didn’t use. 

Martin folded the note and stuffed it into his pocket. He went up to Tim and Sasha. “Guys?”

Sasha and Tim looked to him.

“I think Tim should be the assistant.”

Sasha nodded. “I agree!”

“Really? Me?” Tim was shocked. He thought on it a moment. “Yeah, I guess I could. As long as I can still do my own thing.” The three turned to Jon. “‘Ey, boss!”

Jon looked to Tim. “Yes?”

“You’re stuck with me as your assistant, hope ya don’t mind too much!” Tim smirked.

Jon nodded. “Yeah, Okay. Martin?”

Martin nodded. “Right. Um, I’m going to make some tea for us all. I’ll be right back.” And with that, Martin left.

“Sooo, offices. Ya gonna move into here, Jon?” Tim asked, sitting next to him.

“Don’t know yet.” Jon was weak. He wanted and needed rest right now, but Tim wasn’t giving that to him. 

“Oh come on, don’t you know anything? Isn’t this all exciting? At least we don’t have to deal with Elias Douchtard, right?”

Jon nodded slightly. “Mhm…”

“Yeah, and not only that, we can actually progress on things, and you’re not like him so I think you’ll do good, and with me around maybe we can patch this place up in a way that will be helpful and not harmful, and-”

“Tim, please-” Jon got up the energy to snap a little at Tim.

Tim raised a brow. “What? Can’t handle the fact that-”

“No, Tim, It’s just… Give me a second, please. It’s hard for me to do anything right now…” Jon said in barely a whisper.

Tim grew concerned. “You okay?”

Jon shrugged a little as Martin came back in. “Jon.” He said softly. Jon looked to him and grabbed the mug. “And Sasha.” He gave Sasha a peppermint tea with some honey.

“Thanks, Martin!”

Martin nodded. “I’ll be back.” He left again.

Sasha sat at the other side of Jon. “Hey Bud.” She said, sipping at her tea. “I know it must be really hard, all of this coming at you at once. But trust me, you’ll do great. Plus, you’ve got us! The best Archival team in the world.” 

That got Jon to chuckle slightly. He kept drinking his tea.

Martin came back once again. “Tim.” Tim took his drink while Martin sat at Elias’ old chair. 

“We have a lot to do…” Jon said quietly.

Tim piped up. “Yeah, well, we can do it all later. Right now we just gotta celebrate that we no longer work for such a prick!”

“I’m with you there!” Martin said cheerfully.

“I certainly am too!” Sasha chimed in.

Jon smiled. He couldn’t have asked for anything better than this. “Count me in as well. I think we could all use time away from… Well, _that_.”

The three nodded and hung out for the day. They could do more professional, formal work tomorrow. For now, though, they would revel in the miracle that was not having to work for Elias Bouchard anymore.


End file.
